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NYPL Acquires Kerouac ArchiveThe New York Public Library announced August 21 the acquisition of the literary and personal archive of novelist Jack Kerouac from the author’s estate. The archive’s purchase price cannot be revealed under the terms of the contract, the August 22 New York Times reported. Kerouac, whose 1957 novel On the Road became the bible of the Beat generation, kept the archive organized himself. It contains more than 1,050 manuscripts and typescripts; 52 personal journals written from 1934 to 1960, which include material used in his novels; about 1,800 pieces of correspondence from such celebrities as Allen Ginsberg, William F. Buckley, and Timothy Leary; and meticulous records of all the games he ever played, including fictional football games and horse races. “People have this stereotype that he was this bop guy, but he was really this self-conscious artist,” Director of the NYPL Humanities and Social Sciences Library Rodney Phillips told the Times. “Here you can see him working and revising constantly.” The materials will become a part of the library’s Henry W. and Albert A. Berg collection of English and American literature. Access is restricted, under the terms of the sale, until 2005 or the publication of an official Kerouac biography by historian Douglas Brinkley. Posted August 27, 2001. |
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